A Good Day

Today was payday so we all know that means it was a pretty good day. What made it better is I only worked 2 hours in the morning so that left my afternoon free with money. This is never a good combination because I usually spend too much money or at least that is what I am told. It was a pretty day and I was in a good mood so I decided that I would go out to the craft store and pick up a cross stitch leaflet that I had been eyeing really hard since I found it when I bought my Precouis Moments leaflet(PM53 World Harmony). That was such a hard choice! I bought it today. It is A Year Of Dreamsicles #2977! I have not stitched any angels before and these ones were so cute I just had to have them. Also, since it is "A Year" of Dreamsicles I have one for every month to do and I will have projects for the next year. I am really excited about stitching these Cherubs. I have already had one friend ask if I could stitch one of them for her daughter(same little girl the Snow White if for).

I am pretty close to being finished with the cross stitching on PM53 World Harmony-International Buffet. All I have to do is some hair in 3371 and the backstitching. It is looking really good. I am impressed on how well it looks on the eavenweave. I have not decided on how to finish the piece (pillow, wall hanging, etc.) I definitely have converted to eavenweave! It does cost a little bit more than aida cloth but I think that it is well worth the price.

I have also started another project for my 7 year old son. He is a typical boy and he loves bugs and dinosaurs. I decided to make him a throw pillow to use when watching TV or playing games. I got these patterns free from DMC (Ant, Beetle, Butterfly, Dragonfly, Grasshopper, and Ladybug). I am stitching them all on one piece of eavenweave with two going across and three going down. I am stitching it on eavenweave so I think that it will turn out really good.

SBQ Week 7

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" is:

Have you ever been asked to do model stitching? Did you do it? If so, what was your compensation? (money, stash, etc.) If not, why not? If you haven't done it, if you were asked would you? Why or why not?

I have never been asked to do a model stitching. As for would I do a model stitching if asked I would probably agree to do it if I liked the design or not. A lot of stitching has to do with my own personal likes and dislikes. I try to stitch designs that I really like but if someone wants me to do a certain design for them I will but when that happens I still am not 100% happy with the end result.

Celestial Piece

I have finished all the cross stitching on my Celestial piece. I still have a lot of backstitching to finish. I think that the backstitching will really make this piece stand out. (At least I am hoping it does!) However since I am at the backstitching phase it is time to put it aside or I will lose complete interest if I do not. I have set it aside and I am working with eavenweave.

A long time ago I tried to work with eavenweave and it was a mess so I had never tried again until a week ago. After seeing and reading about other bloggers who are using it and they seem to like it I decided to give it another try. So far everything is going great. I am amazed at how neat my back of my piece is turning out. When I work with aida cloth it seems like I have a problem keeping them neat. They are a lot neater than they used to be as I use the "loop" method when I can. Another thing that I like so far about eavenweave is that it looks ten times better...almost professional! I think that I am going to love working with it now. Most of my problem before hand is that I was trying to stitch free hand and I have come to the conclusion that I have to use a hoop. The other problem that played a major downfall was that the eavenweave I used before isn't like the kind I have now. The strings weren't woven together tightly and also I was miss counting squares/holes. As the old adage goes: Practice makes perfect :)

SBQ Week 6

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" is:

Do you "stitch with the seasons?" (This could be reflected by the colors that you stitch with, the themes that you choose, or even that during your favorite season you stitch more (or less) than in others.)

I do stitch with the seasons but I tend to stitch more with the holidays. My favorite time of the year is autumn. I love to see the changing colors of the leaves. I tend to stitch a lot of pumpkins and turkeys. In the wintertime I stitch a lot of snowmen and Christmas trees. In the spring I tend to stitch more flowers and bunnies while in the summer I like to stitch seashells and patriotic themed pieces. This does not mean that Ihave not been known to stitch a snowman when the temp. is over 100 degrees outside.

I Love My Teddy

I started this project about 3 months ago and finally finished it up over the weekend. It was done on white 14 count aida cloth. This pattern is by Terri Lee Steinmeyer and can be downloaded for free at Janlynn.com. It is a fairly easy pattern and makes a good baby pillow for a boy or a girl. However, the next time I do this one I will change the color of the bear. After finishing it up completely I decided that I did not care for the plaid stripes. I always do the piece according to the pattern and from my finished piece I then decide if I like the colors or not.

This past week I have also worked on my Celestial pattern. I have finished all the cross stitches on it and now I am doing the backstitching. This piece has not turned out as pretty as I thought it would. The major thing that I don't like about it is the backstitch colors. There is a lot of writing on it and the backstitch color is white. It doesn't stand out and is hard to read. That is the beauty of stitching I can make my personal changes to compare to the original piece.

Snow White Is Done

I have been stitching up a storm this week. I managed to get a lot accomplished this week I finished all the stitching and back stitching on her and now she is ready to be cleaned and pressed. I am going to make her into a wall hanging for a one and a half year old girl. I know she is going to love it! Snow White was done on 14 count aida cloth by Charles Craft and I used DMC floss. Now I have to get some backing, fabric, and lace and it will be ready for the little girl.

Trying Evenweave (Again)

I have been reading some blogs and reading how a majority of stitchers prefer to use evenweave versus aida. About a year after I started stitching I had tried eavenweave but it was an awful experience. As I look back on it I just wasn't ready to progress on to eavenweave. I am the type of person if I have a bad experience with something I usually don't try it again. A decade has passed since and I think that it is time to try it once more.

After deciding to give it another try I had to go shopping to find a new pattern and the evenweave.(at least that is the excuse I gave to M. so I could go shopping) . I went to my craft store and spent nearly an hour looking at all the different patterns. I finally decided on Precious Moments World Harmony. It is a book of patterns for several different countries. I am going to do one of the patterns on Charles Craft Monaco 28 count. The first one I do (and hopefully turns out) I will keep for myself. I have a certain friend in mind for the next eavenweave project.

So, if anyone has any advice for me to avoid a disaster with eavenweave please feel free to let me know.